How Sydney Sage Went Mad
by AdInfinitum1830
Summary: Sydney Sage is taken to reeducation after they learn of her romantic relationship with Adrian Ivashkov. Adrian & company bust Sydney out, but she is damaged past the point of no return. This is the subtle haunting story of Sydney new condition of insanity, & how Adrian now must now become the one to help, rather than being the personal helped, a role he is so well acquainted with.
1. 001 Steel

She flattens her palm against the cold steel of Adrian's Mustang, her fingers spread.

"Come on, Sage," he says, eyeing her strangely. "We don't have time."

But she can't. She can't get into that steel contraption without being reminded of the place.

He's about the make a witty remark, some impatient joke, but he catches onto the odd glint in her eyes. She looks like a caged animal about to go back into the cage.

"Hey, I'll take the top down."

She nods, looking temporarily relieved.

The walls of the place were steel. They were cold, gray slate that felt like winter's bone. The tables were steel. The chairs were steel. Everything was steel.

They screened her behind that two-way mirror, a window that only displayed herself - from both sides. She could feel the alchemists' beady eyes on her at every moment she spent in that metallic room. Even when she couldn't sense them standing behind the mirror, she could feel their presence surrounding her. The cameras, their electronic movements echoing throughout the empty room. Following her every movement.

Engulfing her.

Ready to swallow her whole.

"We're not going to make it," she mumbles, even as he drives away.

Even as the building shrinks behind them, becoming nothing more than a speck, a white stain against a clear blue sky.


	2. 002 Clean Break

Break

It's been weeks. It's been weeks since Adrian Ivashkov took her away, harbored her in various motels, ribboning the winding highways with her in the passenger seat of his ostentatious, sunshine yellow vintage Mustang.

Sydney still constantly looks back. She looks behind her, over her shoulder, as if to check. Even in the safety of their hotel room. To make sure no one is watching.

Sometimes, her eyes find Adrian.

"They're not coming for you," he always says, his voice gentle, his eyes concerned.

She doesn't believe him. She never answers with words, but he can read her silent, unvoiced replies in her eyes.

He tries to reassure her. "They're probably working on erasing you from the system right now, making sure no one else knows about you."

But she knows. She knows it's not enough to erase her from the system. As long as she is out there, she is tainted. She is corruption. She will need to be taken care of, permanently.

And the alchemists were always so neat and tidy. So fond of a clean break.

"I won't let them get you," he whispers one night, cradling her head in his arms, her golden eyes passive. He kisses her face, as if to reassure her. "I won't."

She speaks, for the first time in two weeks. Like a little child, she lifts her head up and looks up at him, her eyes round and wide and childlike. She touches the tip of his nose with her index finger. "But they might get you."


	3. 003 Faults

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**003. Faults**

Sydney stops talking again. She refuses to touch anything metal once it's nighttime, as if the cold surface had the power to bring her back to the reeducation center somehow.

Sydney knows it's not over. She knows they're not done.

Adrian does everything for her. He cooks, he brings her to new hotels every three days, he makes sure they aren't followed.

Sydney doesn't do much. She sits in the middle of the bed, knees hugged to her chest, staring at the wall as if watching TV.

There's not much Adrian can do for her. He tries talking to her, consoling her, but she responds to none of the above. He's able to get her out of bed, get her into the car to move again, and get her to eat. Barely.

Adrian's afraid. He's afraid that he's too late, and the Sydney Sage in the passenger seat of his vintage automobile is not the same girl he met in Palm Spring months prior - the girl who wore neutral colored clothes with a secret fire in her eyes. He afraid they've replaced her with some soulless being, someone like Keith Darnell.

He'd almost believe it, if it weren't for the fear he could sense in her. Although she appeared passive, he could see the fear she cloaked so well under her unflinching, steady gaze, under her sickly demeanor.

Adrian barely speaks to her anymore. It's beginning to feel too odd to him - to be speaking to a wall. To hear his own voice pierce the gaping silence, hearing nothing in return but frigid air.

She's sitting with her knees pulled to her chest once again. Adrian crawls up next to her and wraps his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"I love you, you know?" he whispers, almost nostalgically. Almost like it's a distant memory, a fond past. "I used to think..." He shakes his head, almost as if he can banish the forbidden thought. "I used to think that someday you could feel the same."

"I'm sorry," she says. Adrian's so surprised to hear her voice; he hadn't heard it in so long he almost had forgotten its sound.

"For what?" he gently coaxes.

"For loving you too."

Adrian opens his mouth. He's about to ask why on earth she would be sorry for such a wonderful thing, but then he realizes: she thinks it's her fault.

Adrian can't get over what he's just heard, so he goes into the bathroom to splash some water on his face. When he goes back to Sydney, she gone, the only indication the wind dancing with the curtains through the open glass door.

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